‘No-fail plan will protect weak students’

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government recently dropped the word ‘failed’ from the mark-sheets of the Class 10 and 12 board exams. While psychiatrists said the move

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government recently dropped the word ‘failed’ from the mark-sheets of the Class 10 and 12 board exams. While psychiatrists said the move would mark a shift in society’s perception of academically weak students, academic experts claim the success of the move would depend on its implementation.

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The state school education department issued a government resolution on August 30 stating that the board would not mention ‘failed’ on the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) mark-sheets.

It will instead declare candidates as promoted with ATKT (allowed to keep term), eligible for re-exams or only for skill-development programmes, depending on the number of subjects they clear.

The idea was the brainchild of state education minister Vinod Tawde who felt that this will reduce the number of drop-outs at the secondary and higher secondary levels.

“The ‘failure’ tag demoralises students. They get labelled as failures and lose out on a year. Also, according to a crime report, most of the dropouts turn to crime,” said Tawde.

Welcoming the move, city psychiatrists said that this move would protect academically weak students from the negative connotation and depression associated with the word ‘failure’.

“Stigma cannot be shattered only with one blow, multiple initiatives are needed. But this will gradually change the thought process surrounding failure,” said Dr Harish Shetty, senior psychiatrist, Dr LH Hiranandani Foundation Hospital, Powai.

He also said that students consider failing a board exam as the end of their lives but positive messages on their mark-sheets will encourage them. “If the mark-sheet reads that you are eligible for a re-exam, the examinee will focus on clearing the next exam and not wallow in the past,” said Shetty.

A similar initiative was undertaken by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) a few years ago when they replaced marks with grades. “If a student does not clear a subject, they are considered eligible for compartment exams,” said Avnita Bir, principal, RN Podar School, Santacruz.

Bir said that one yardstick is not sufficient to measure students’ performance. “All students are not good at academics, but they might excel in vocational courses. We need to ensure that vocational courses get the same kind of respect as academics,” said Bir.

Some academic experts said the success of this initiative will depend on its implementation.

“Courses should be designed in a way that it increases the students’ chances of getting employed and provides them with a degree,” said Basanti Roy, former divisional secretary of the Maharashtra state board.